Marine Le Pen is expected in Mayotte on Sunday January 5 for three days. A territory which largely supported the RN in the last presidential election.
Marine Le Penpatron of the deputies of the National Rally (RN) in the National Assembly will go to Mayotte from Sunday January 5 to Tuesday January 7, 2025, three weeks after the devastating passage of Cyclone Chido in the archipelago. If the precise program of his trip – which follows those of Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister François Bayrou – is not known, it could be of very political interest, despite the seriousness of the situation on site.
A fundamental electoral issue
In 2022, during the second round of the presidential election, the RN achieved one of its best scores… in Mayotte. 59.10% of Mahorais voters placed a ballot in favor of the flame party in the ballot box. For the first time in its history, the National Rally even managed to elect a deputy in Mayotte last July, Anchya Bamana, representative of the 2nd constituency of the island. And the territory is not a UFO, because Marine Le Pen came first in all the overseas territories during the second round. The presence of the leader of the RN deputies could therefore put pressure on the tenant of Matignon François Bayrou, and brandish, if she wishes, the threat of a new motion of censure against the government in place.
For the moment, it is not yet time for the offensive. The multiple candidate for the presidential election declared that the announcements made by François Bayrou for Mayotte were “unquestionably in the right direction”. The latter announced the implementation of a “Mayotte standing” plan, which will therefore be judged on documents, and not a priori by the Lepéniste party. “We hope that the hopes of the Mahorais are not betrayed again and that this plan is implemented and respected. As deputies, we will, of course, ensure that the word given is respected,” she nevertheless tempered. In fact, her title as president of the party’s deputies in the lower house of Parliament does not allow her to benefit from any decision-making power over the future of Mayotte.
The theme of illegal immigration on the table?
One thing is certain, Marine Le Pen occupies the Mahorean terrain. She has visited the archipelago several times in recent years, notably in April 2024 to support the list led by Jordan Bardella – now president of the party – in the last European elections. Enough to reinforce the idea that the National Rally weighs on this battered territory which now awaits firm and rapid responses, after the desolation. “You have suffered the worst, you have seen the devastation pass (…) We will do everything in our power to speed up the help you need,” she said in a video intended for inhabitants of the archipelago on social networks on the occasion of the transition to the new year, Tuesday December 31, 2024.
From Sunday, there could still be a question of insecurity on the island, and a possible link with illegal immigration from the Comoros. A theme that Marine Le Pen has already addressed in the past. As a reminder, in 2018, the latter tabled a bill calling for the abolition of the right to land and family reunification, the inadmissibility of any asylum request, the abolition of legal aid for foreigners and the ban of dual Franco-Comorian nationality.